The Guardian, Thursday 6 October 2011 Article historySarah Palin has officially confirmed that she will not run for president in the 2012 elections. Photograph: Robyn Beck/Getty

Sarah Palin has ended her year-long tease of American conservatives by finally announcing she will not be joining the presidential race.In a letter to supporters, Palin said: "After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president of the United States."When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order."Her departure clarifies the Republican field, with no other candidates likely to join the race at this late stage. The Republican contest is shaping up basically as between former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas governor Rick Perry, in spite of a recent surge in support for businessman Herman Cain.As well as saying she was putting her family first, she added she could be more effective for the conservative cause in helping getting Tea Party supporters and other rightwingers elected to Congress, governorships and the White House rather than standing herself. She did not need a title to help America recover, she said."My decision is based upon a review of what commonsense conservatives and independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office  from the nation's governors to Congressional seats and the presidency."Still a strong voice in the Tea Party movement, she intends in the coming weeks to co-ordinate strategies to help Republicans retake the White House and Senate next year, and hold its control of the House.Palin has long toyed with the idea of a presidential run but has come up against poor poll ratings. One of the most recent polls, in the Washington Post this week, showed two-thirds of Republicans did not want her to stand.Palin rose to prominence in 2008 when she was the surprise choice of John McCain as his running mate against Barack Obama. She enjoyed high ratings among conservatives in the aftermath of the election and remains a popular figure on the right.Last year, she seemed to be a likely contender for the presidency but with each month that passed this year, her chances became slimmer, and irritation crept in among her supporters over her indecision. She was too late, seeing the right-wing ground she would have sought to occupy already claimed by figures such as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and now Texas governor Rick Perry.She frequently left an impression that she would liked to have stood, turning up at key Republican events throughout the year that were attended by declared candidates.She launched a tour this year accompanied by her family aboard a bus painted like a campaign one and arrived in New Hampshire at roughly the same time as Romney was there announcing his decision to stand. In August, she dropped into Iowa as Republican candidates gathered for the Ames straw poll. She developed a strong dislike of much of the media, with the exception of a few trusted friends at Fox, where she is a paid employee. Some commentators predicted she would not stand because she feared the impact of renewed media scrutiny on her family, while others said she was enjoying the money from her new celebrity career too much to enter the fray.She suffered a serious political setback with the attempted assassination of the Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, in January. The attempt came after Palin had put out a graphic saying that Giffords was in her crosshairs. Although there was no evidence linking that to the shooting, it opened up a debate about whether rhetoric in American politics had become too violent.In her letter, Palin thanked her supporters who had defended her throughout the years and encouraged her to stand. She insisted that her decision not to stand meant she will fade out of politics and she set out her agenda for smaller government."I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for president where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables.
We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimise government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs."